Cass County High Point Trip Report

Date: May 2002
Author: Dick Ellsworth

The Cass Co highpoint is located approximately 5 miles east of Beardstown IL in central IL.

From Beardstown take 4th Street east out of town. Zero your odometer at the cemetery on the east edge of town (the one on the south side of the road, not the one a mile later on the north side of the road). Fourth Street becomes Chandlerville Road outside Beardstown. At 4.4 mimles you will pass North Bluff Springs Road, there is a school on the south side of the road. Continue 0.6 mile to K? (sorry, my notes are sketchy on the full name of this road - it begins with K) Hill Road (blacktop) and turn right (south). At 1.8 miles from Chandlerville Road, turn left (east) on Six Corners Road (blacktop). Drive carefully on this section in season - there are lots of blind intersections and the corn gets high. Take Six Corners Road through a pair of right angle turns for 1.2 miles to Red Oak Road (dirt) - the Sweatman "Herefords" sign on the building at the T intersection will greet you. Turn left (north) on Red Oak Roadand pass between two ponds at 0.6 mile. At 1.1 miles from Six Corners Road you will see a field road on the left (west) and an old barn up ahead on the right. The highpoint is a bit over 0.4 mile west and about 330 feet north of this road. My eTrex gave coordinates (40° 1.010' N; 90° 18.087' W).

I spoke with Mr. Sweatman, who was in working the field. He was quite friendly and was aware that the spot was a high one, but hadn't realized it was the CoHP. Let me know if you are interested - I have a gif scan with the field road drawn in - it's not shown on the USGS map.